Abstract

ASSESSING COMPLIANCE IN IRAQI CHRONIC DRUG USERS – A SHORT TERM STUDY

Haidar Kadhim Al-Jawadi*

Abstract

Non-compliance with medical treatment is a wide-spread problem which has been extensively studied by many researchers. Our study included 500 patients using drugs of chronic diseases. They were of the following groups: hypertension (HTN), asthma, duodenal ulcer (DU), non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and congestive heart failure (CHF). A questionnaire was prepared to obtain information from the patients about their medications and their use. It was mainly directed to the information about the patients, their educational status, information given to them about their medications, the source of their medications, their obedience to instructions about the life style or dietary habits, taking any additional medication, and the type of atmosphere at the physician's. Compliance was expressed as a percentage of the ideal. The mean compliance percentage was found to be about 71.8%. Our observations highlight the various factors affecting non-compliance to drug treatment that the physician and pharmacist should take into consideration when writing and dispensing a prescription.

Keywords: compliance, chronic drug users, Iraq.